Various conditions may affect skeletal joints such as the elongation or rupture of soft tissues, shortening or contracture of soft tissues, malformation of bones, and a variety of other conditions associated with the joint. Surgical intervention may be facilitated by cutting bones adjacent a joint. For example, in order to correct the length of a bone, correct the orientation of the bone, or provide room to access soft tissues surrounding the bone, an osteotomy may be performed by cutting the bone to form two relatively moveable bone portions and then rejoining the portions.
Prior techniques for performing osteotomies have included freehand cutting of the bone followed by reducing the bone fragments by sliding one bone fragment relative to the other along the cut bone surface. Such a technique changes the biomechanics of the bone. For example, adjacent a joint, such a technique changes the instantaneous axis of rotation of the joint and the direction of pull of tendons acting on the joint resulting in non-anatomic joint function.